New Delhi: There was a time when the path to power in Delhi passed through regional parties. In the era of coalition governments, leaders prefer Lalu Yadav And Ram Vilas Paswan flaunted his titles of “kingmaker” and “weathervane”, while former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee could only blame regional satraps for the fall of his 13-day government in 1996.However, as the saying goes, nothing is permanent in politics. Nearly three decades later, the fortunes of many regional parties have taken an unpleasant turn.Although these parties still play an important role in national politics, most of them suffer from internal strife, factionalism, and uncertainty over future leadership.Here is a list of regional parties across the country that are grappling with such problems:Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)Even before it faced defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections held in November last year, cracks had started appearing within Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. As the state entered full campaign mode, Lalu expelled his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav after he had expressed his love for a woman on social media and claimed that he was in a relationship with her for 12 years.After being expelled from the party, Tej Pratap launched his own organization – Janshakti Janata Dal – and fielded candidates against RJD candidates.
In the elections, the RJD suffered a major setback, winning only 25 seats – one of its worst performances since its formation in 1997.Before the party could digest the results, Rohini Acharya – the second of RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s nine children and the kidney donor who saved his life – launched a massive front against the Lalu family. He accused key members of Tejashwi Yadav’s inner circle of humiliating, sidelining and coercing him.Following a heated argument with her brother Tejashwi Yadav over the party’s defeat in the assembly elections, she announced that she was quitting politics and “disowning” her family. He also alleged that he was accused of donating a “dirty kidney” to his father “after taking crores of rupees and a Lok Sabha ticket”.Lok Janshakti Party (LJP)After the death of former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in 2020, a power struggle started between his son Chirag Paswan and brother Pashupati Kumar Paras.In 2021, Chirag was ousted from LJP following a coup led by his uncle and rebel MPs. He was also blamed for the party’s disastrous performance in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections.Paras won the first round of the battle after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognized him as the leader of the LJP in the House, virtually sealing his claim.Soon after, the Election Commission allotted new party names and symbols to both factions. The name of Chirag’s faction became Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) with helicopter election symbol, while the name of Paras’s faction became Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party) with sewing machine election symbol.However, Chirag’s fortunes changed after the 2024 general elections, as his party won all five Lok Sabha seats it contested in Bihar. Meanwhile, Paras’ faction was thrown out of the BJP-led NDA.Chirag repeated his success in the 2024 assembly elections and emerged as the third major player in the NDA’s landslide victory. LJP (RV) won 19 of the 29 seats it contested, helping the NDA cross the 200-seat mark.His dominance was evident during the seat-sharing talks, as his party secured a substantial share in the 2020 assembly elections despite only one of its 143 candidates winning – the benefit of which was followed by a clean sweep in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)Ajit Pawar led a split in the Nationalist Congress Party by parting ways with several senior leaders, including his uncle Sharad Pawar. His faction joined hands with the BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.Ajit had objected to Sharad Pawar continuing as party chief despite his advancing age and favored an alliance with the ruling coalition, while Sharad Pawar’s faction insisted on remaining in the opposition.
Ajit took oath as Deputy Chief Minister. The Election Commission later recognized his faction as the legitimate NCP and retained the ‘clock’ symbol, while Sharad Pawar’s group-NCP (SP) adopted the ‘Tutari’ (curved trumpet) symbol.Following setbacks in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ajit Pawar admitted that separating from his family was a “mistake”, even as he described the split as necessary for “stability and progress in Maharashtra”.However, ahead of the upcoming local body elections in Mumbai, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, both the factions decided to come together.“For the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation elections, ‘Ghadi’ and ‘Tutari’ have become one. The family has come together,” Ajit Pawar said.However, the alliance is limited to Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, and Sharad Pawar was not involved in the decision-making process.Shiv SenaThe Shiv Sena split in 2022 after Eknath Shinde led a rebellion and formed the government in Maharashtra with the support of the BJP.Shinde, along with around 40 MLAs, accused then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray of betraying Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva ideology and weakening the core principles of the party in his bid for power.On June 20, Shinde and the rebel MLAs moved to Surat and later to Guwahati, prompting Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to call for a floor test on June 22 as the MVA government was flailing.
Uddhav Thackeray resigned on June 29 without facing a trust vote, paving the way for Shinde to be sworn in as chief minister on June 30, while BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis will become the deputy chief minister.The Election Commission later recognized the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and allotted it the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol based on the number of MPs and MLAs supporting it.In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Shinde-led Shiv Sena won 57 seats, while Shiv Sena (UBT) could win only 16 seats.Bahujan Samaj PartyBSP supremo Mayawati is known for strictly suppressing factionalism. However, she has repeatedly made headlines for her ups and downs in her relationship with her nephew Akash Anand.In May 2024, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh removed Akash Anand as her political successor and stripped him of all party posts, later re-naming him as her successor.
His restoration proved short-lived. In March 2025, Akash was again removed from the post of national coordinator of the party.Reportedly, Mayawati felt that Anand was under the influence of her father-in-law Siddharth. Moreover, after being appointed in-charge, Akash failed to make an impact in the Haryana and Delhi assembly elections. He also questioned the BSP’s traditional fundraising method, known as the ‘book system’.However, Mayawati later forgave her nephew and re-inducted him into the party, claiming that Akash had been reaching out to party workers and apologizing after his expulsion.Samajwadi PartyThe seeds of discord within the Samajwadi Party were sown in 2016 when he was the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh Yadav Taking action against his uncle Shivpal Yadav, he sacked ministers and bureaucrats considered loyal to him.Shivpal had played an important role in the merger of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s Qaumi Ekta Dal with SP, a move which was later reversed after opposition from Akhilesh.During the family feud, party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav played the role of mediator and warned his son that the SP would split if Shivpal resigned from the state cabinet.Despite this, Shivpal broke away and formed the Progressive Samajwadi Party (Lohia) in 2018. His party contested 30 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but failed to win even a single seat.After the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav, efforts were made to reunite the family, culminating in the ‘uncle-nephew’ duo coming together, ensuring Dimple Yadav’s victory in the by-election necessitated by the demise of the SP founder.Bharat Rashtra SamitiK Chandrasekhar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi was also caught in a similar power struggle after the former Telangana chief minister expelled his daughter Kavitha for speaking against his cousin and former minister T Harish Rao.After securing bail in the Delhi Excise Policy case last year. Kavita started the second phase of her political career. However, she became increasingly vocal against her own party.
He accused Harish Rao of having a secret pact with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to defame his father, especially after the Congress government ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project built during the BRS regime.Recently, Kavitha announced that she would soon form a political party and vowed to return to legislative politics as a “political force”.
